 Stereotyped early in his career as the quintessential angry
young man, Graham Parker was one of the most successful singer/songwriters to
emerge from England's pub rock scene of the early '70s. Drawing heavily from Van
Morrison and the Rolling Stones, Graham Parker developed a sinewy fusion of
driving rock & roll and confessional folk-rock, highlighted by his indignant
passion, biting sarcasm, and bristling anger. At the outset of his career, his
albums crackled with pub rock energy, snide witticisms, and gentle insights,
earning him a devoted following of fans and critics, who lavished praise on his
debut, Howlin' Wind. Despite all of the positive word of mouth, Graham Parker
never managed to become a star, and he was soon overshadowed by the emergence of
Elvis Costello, a singer/songwriter who shared similar roots. After delivering
Squeezing Out Sparks in 1979, Graham Parker attempted to make a few crossover
albums before settling into a cult following in the late '80s, continuing to
garner critical acclaim.
After spending much of his early adulthood working odd jobs,
ranging from breeding mice and guinea pigs to working at a gas station, Graham
Parker began seriously pursuing a musical career in 1975. Until that time, he
had played in a number of obscure pub rock groups, including a cover band that
had spent time playing in Morocco and Gibraltar. But it wasn't until 1975 that
he began shopping his demos. That year, Dave Robinson, one of the co-founders of
the new independent label Stiff, heard one of Parker's demo tapes and encouraged
the songwriter, helping him assemble a backing band called the Rumour. Robinson
rounded up several stars of the pub rock scene -- guitarist Brinsley Schwarz and
keyboardist Bob Andrews, both formerly of the leading pub rockers Brinsley
Schwarz, former Ducks Deluxe guitarist Martin Belmont, former Bontemps Roulez
drummer Steve Goulding, and bassist Andrew Bodnar -- to form the Rumour, and the
band was soon supporting Graham Parker on the dying pub rock scene. With the
assistance of DJ Charlie Gillett, the group landed a record contract with
Mercury by the end of 1975.
Graham Parker & the Rumour headed into the studio to cut
their debut album with producer Nick Lowe, who gave the resulting record, Howlin'
Wind, an appealingly ragged edge. Howlin' Wind was greeted with enthusiastic
reviews upon its summer release, as did the similar Heat Treatment, which
followed in the fall. Despite the positive press, Graham Parker was growing
frustrated with Mercury, believing that the company was not properly promoting
and distributing his records. His third album, Stick to Me, had to be
re-recorded quickly after the original tapes were discovered to be defective
prior to its scheduled release. As a result, Stick to Me received mixed reviews
upon its fall 1977 release, which derailed Graham Parker's momentum slightly.
Furthermore, Elvis Costello, a fellow pub rock survivor who not only possessed a
more pop-oriented style of songwriting, but also a more dangerous persona, soon
eclipsed Graham Parker in popularity. Frustrated by his career hitting a
standstill, Graham Parker released the live double album The Parkerilla in the
summer of 1978 in order to get out of his contract. Following a short but
intense bidding war, he quickly signed to Arista Records, where he released
"Mercury Poisoning" -- a blistering attack on his former record label -- as the
B-side of a promotional single as his first record for the label.
Squeezing Out Sparks, Graham Parker's first album for Arista,
put a halt to that decline. Sporting a slicker, new wave-oriented production --
it was the first of his records not to have any involvement from Nick Lowe --
the album was greeted with terrific reviews and, on the strengths of radio hits
like "Local Girls," it became his most successful album, reaching number 40 on
the American charts and selling over 200,000 copies. Graham Parker was poised
for a major breakthrough, but that didn't happen. He followed Squeezing Out
Sparks in 1980 with the Jimmy Iovine-produced The Up Escalator, which was
considerably slicker than its predecessor. The Up Escalator didn't sell, and
Graham Parker decided to ditch the Rumour, who had already begun a solo career.
For 1982's Another Grey Area, he hired producer Jack Douglas and a team of
session musicians, resulting in a radio-ready production that received mixed
reviews, yet managed to peak at number 51. The Real Macaw, which followed in
1983, suffered a similar fate. For 1985's Steady Nerves, Graham Parker moved to
Elektra Records and formed a backing band called the Shot with guitarist
Brinsley Schwarz, who helped him deliver his most radio-ready collection. This
time, the pop move paid off. "Wake Up (Next to You)" became his only Top 40 hit,
and the album stayed on the charts for nearly as long as Squeezing Out Sparks.
Despite his moderate commercial success with Steady Nerves,
the album wasn't widely praised, and he also ran into trouble with Elektra,
leaving the label after just one record. He briefly moved to Atlantic, which
dropped him without releasing a single record. Consequently, Graham Parker
wasn't able to deliver another album until 1988, when he signed with RCA and
released The Mona Lisa's Sister in the spring. Hailed as a comeback by several
critics upon its release, the album generated a college radio hit with "Get
Started (Start a Fire)" and spent 19 weeks on the charts. Instead of being the
beginning of a comeback, the album turned out to be a last gasp -- it was the
last time Parker was able to crack the Top 100. Live! Alone in America (1989)
received positive reviews but was ignored, and 1990's mild worldbeat experiment
Human Soul received mixed reviews and peaked at number 165 on the charts. Graham
Parker's final album for RCA -- and his last album to chart -- was the
stripped-down Struck By Lightning (1991), and while it was critically praised,
it didn't find an audience outside of his cult. The following year, he switched
to Capitol and released Burning Questions, which was ignored.
Following the release of 1993's double-disc anthology Passion
Is No Ordinary Word, Graham Parker made the leap to independent labels -- he had
spent time at all but one of the major labels (Columbia/Sony) with little
success. In 1994, he released the Christmas Cracker EP on Dakota Arts, and then
he signed with Razor & Tie, where he released 12 Haunted Episodes in the spring.
Like The Mona Lisa's Sister and Struck By Lightning before it, 12 Haunted
Episodes was hailed as a comeback, and it sold in respectable numbers for an
indie release. Parker followed it with two albums in 1996, Live from New York,
NY and Acid Bubblegum, which appeared within two months of each other late in
the summer. Early in 1997, he released yet another live album, the double-disc
The Last Rock N Roll Tour, which was recorded with the power pop quartet the
Figgs. Parker continued to issue a steady stream of archive and live releases
into the mid-2000s, and moved into singer/songwriter mode for the albums Deepcut
to Nowhere and Your Country, the latter a roots rock-influenced affair released
by the Chicago-based Bloodshot Records. The Figgs were back for 2005's Songs of
No Consequence, an album that Graham Parker declared "rocks like safari park
chimp" in pre-release publicity. Unreleased material, rare edits, and remixes
were featured on Art Vandelay Tapes, Vol. 2 which appeared two weeks after Songs
of No Consequence. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book Graham Parker
for your next corporate or private event.
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